Nellys Pimentel

Nellys Rocio Pimentel Campusano (born 27 April 1997) is a Puerto Rican model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Earth 2019. She became the first-ever Puerto Rican and Caribbean woman to win Miss Earth.

Early life and education Pimentel was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico but her parents were originally from the Dominican Republic. She is the eldest of two siblings. In her elementary and middle school days, she experienced racial discrimination for the multiple bows in her Afro-textured hair.

It was her mother, Felicia Campusano and her aunt Josefina Campusano who encouraged her to compete in Miss Earth Puerto Rico. She also won Miss Photogenic and was crowned by Miss Earth Puerto Rico 2018 Krystal Xamairy Rivera Barrios.

During her reign, she raised environmental awareness especially in schools and through mass media guesting.

Her participation in Miss Earth Puerto Rico was her first beauty contest experience, although at 14 she participated and won a modeling competition, "Construyendo Sueños" (Building Dreams). She took part in various environmental protection activities along with the other 84 Miss Earth 2019 delegates which included tree planting and TV guest appearances and competed into three preliminaries: the environmental and intelligence, face and poise, and figure and form. She was announced as one of the Top 20 semifinalists. After swimsuit and evening gown parade, she entered the Top 10 with the hashtag round, followed by the final four for the final question and answer portion of the pageant. ''

At the end of the event, she won the title and was crowned by her predecessor, Miss Earth 2018 Nguyễn Phương Khánh of Vietnam. She became the first-ever Puerto Rican winner of the Miss Earth crown. She called the attention of her nation's leaders "to stop taking advantage of the environment and start initiatives to protect and give back to it."

Senate and governor's commendations On 18 November 2019, Pimentel received recognition from the Senate of Puerto Rico for winning the first Miss Earth crown for Puerto Rico. Pimentel also spoke about her work platform entitled "Love your land as you love your family", a project that aims to educate communities in Puerto Rico.

She walked the runway wearing a Giannina Azar creation at the Miami Fashion Week held on 29 May through 2 June 2019.

After winning Miss Earth, Pimentel first guested on a magazine TV show, Bagong Pilipinas aired on People's Television Network with her elemental court and with Karlo Nograles- the Cabinet Secretary of the Philippines. She was also interviewed by Cignal TV, a media and telecommunications firm in the Philippines and then she guested at CNN Philippines where she discussed her advocacies during her reign. In her interview with Primera Hora on 30 October 2019, she encouraged local and small businesses in Puerto Rico to focus on producing sustainable products and to consume products made by companies from the island. Also in November 2019, she walked for Lisa Thon's "Spanish Lullaby" Fashion Show, a collection for spring-summer 2020 as part of La Concha Fashion Series.

Pimentel together with Miss Earth Fire 2019 Alisa Manyonok from Belarus and Miss Earth Water 2019 Klára Vavrušková from Czech Republic joined the festivities in the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Century Park Hotel.

She traveled to the United Arab Emirates in November 2019 for the photo shoot with a Dubai-based fashion magazine, XPEDITION Middle East and wore the creations of Amato Furne Couture, Fashion Forward Runway and Alina Anwar Couture.

Pimentel appeared at the fifth anniversary of the "EcoExploratorio" at the Museo de Ciencias de Puerto Rico on 8 December 2019 and signed two collaborations with the University of Puerto Rico to promote STEM program and with the Internet Society to amplify the use of web surfing/World Wide Web. She attended a charity project on 14 December 2019 where she distributed Christmas gifts to the children of Auxilio Mutuo Hospital.

She collaborated with the Mayor of Dorado, Puerto Rico, along with various organizations for the reforestation campaign and tree-saving projects. Pimentel also participated in the charity event of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Puerto Rico. After the 7 January 2020 magnitude 6.4 earthquake that was part of the 2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes, Pimentel organized a support group for the affected families and distributed goods and toys for the children.

Pimentel returned to the United States in February 2020 and landed in New York City for the first time. She showcased the dresses and fashion accessories of Hudson, who has worked for Michelle Obama and other celebrities such as Demi Lovato and Beyonce. They paraded while carrying a mirror similar to the one used by Alexa in the eighth edition of the Transfashion event, held at the Sila María Calderón Foundation in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

On 4 June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, an African American man, by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 25 May 2020, she was interviewed by Primera Hora and El Vocero and shared her experience as a child where she faced racist comments regarding her Afro-textured hair and dark skin tone.

She appeared on the cover of an American monthly women's fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar- Vietnam's edition in October 2020 and talked about her mission as Miss Earth winner being the voice of unspoken injustices and inadequacies. She also appeared on the cover of GMARO Paris Magazine in October 2020 and advocated the importance of biodegradable products in place of disposables.

In the 20th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, she passed her crown to her successor in the first virtual coronation of any major pageant in the world. The pageant was held on 29 November 2020 where Pimentel was succeeded by Lindsey Coffey of the United States at the end of the event.